


Affectation

by Raven_Ehtar



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Bottom Loki (Marvel), Dark Tony Stark, Double Agents, Enemies to Lovers, FrostIron - Freeform, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Merchant of Death Tony Stark, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Top Tony Stark, Trust Issues, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, but still enemies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 04:45:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18985543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/pseuds/Raven_Ehtar
Summary: Loki visits Tony when he can, trying to convince him to join the Avengers - and doing a little spying. The problem is, Tony knows what he's doing, and Loki is starting to lose track of whathe'smeant to be doing.





	Affectation

**Author's Note:**

> Story number 25 for Story a Day May!
> 
> Another one which was a day late, I'm sorry. Work has been rough and sleep scarce, so I just spent yesterday (and most of today) sleeping. ^^;
> 
> Still working on writing and editing at a sprinting pace. If you spot any errors, feel free to point them out, I'll get them fixed when I have a chance! ♥

“Hello, Anthony.”

Tony, bent low over one of his projects and concentrating hard on getting some of the fiddly connections _just right_ , smiled at the low voice insinuating its way through the workshop, but didn’t straighten to look round. He stayed bent over his work, though with a good half of his attention quietly aimed behind him.

It was always wise to keep one’s attention on the one who was at one’s back.

“Well. Long time no see. I was beginning to think that you’d lost interest in me, Rudolf.”

“Truly? I would have thought that your ego would have kept you safe from such spasms of insecurity.”

“Ooh, sassy today, I see. What’s the matter, did big brother step on your toes again?”

The man behind him _tsk_ ed. “When does he ever _not_ step on my toes?”

“That’s true,” Tony muttered, holding back a strut in his way with one hand while trying to maneuver a delicate piece into place – which should have taken two hands on its own – with the other. “The poor guy just doesn’t seem to be able to do very much without getting into _someone’s_ way, whether intended or not. There’s a good reason you’re referred to as the subtle one.”

With a tiny _snap_ , the last of the pieces fit into place, and Tony was able to carefully extract himself from the inner workings of his project. He had to be careful to avoid ruining any of his previous work, and to avoid being cut by any of the sharp pieces of metal.

Wiping his hands on a cloth, he turned around at last to take a look at his visitor. As always upon seeing Loki up close for the first time after a long dry period, he took his time in drinking the man in. Tall and lean, angular in both body and features, he had a sharp, sly look about him from head to toe. His eyes, his smile, his mind and sense of humor…

Was it any wonder he had fallen for the man as hard as he had, even given how ill-advised it truly was?

There _was_ something a little out of the ordinary, though, which made Tony tense. “So. Should I assume that this isn’t just a social call?”

Loki’s expression crinkled a little in confusion, and then he looked down at himself. He was wearing the leathers and armor he normally wore into battles. The only thing which kept Tony from subtly calling on JARVIS to ready one of his suits was the fact that his helmet and scepter were both missing. It wasn’t impossible for Loki to go into a fight without them, but it _was_ rare.

Tony didn’t want to risk that he might be the exception.

“Ah,” Loki said softly. “No, never fear, Stark. I would hardly come here to face you without every advantage I could get.”

He raised his brows, fighting back the little smirk which wanted to come to his lips. “Such as the element of surprise? I can expect to have you at my throat when I’m not expecting you at all?”

Loki was not so strict on his own expression, and the smile which came to his lips made his eyes light up. “As it was always meant to be, wouldn’t you say?”

Tony barked a laugh at that. “Ever the clever tongue. Must be why I like you so much.”

“Mm. Among other things.”

He chuckled again, and tossed aside the cloth. “Yes, ‘among other things.’ Who knows which of the things is the most likely to get one of us killed one of these days.” He eyed the outfit again, noting how in places it was scuffed or dirtied, a small tear visible near the hem of his coat, a smattering of white-ish dust across his greaves. “So where have you been lately? It looks like it could have been fun. Ridding the universe of more threats with the rest of the Mickey Mouse Club?”

It got Loki’s expression to drop, just a little. He hated it whenever Tony mentioned the little superhero team which Loki was attached to. Which was why he did it whenever he could.

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” he said, turning away and heading to the mini fridge Tony kept in the shop. “Which, considering that _you_ live on this planet as well, I should think you would be happy enough to hear about, regardless of _who_ it was who put in the effort.”

“Oh, I am,” Tony reassured him, watching as Loki bent to help himself to the fridge. He was meant to look. Loki did it deliberately to provoke him. The fact that it was effective was the whole reason he _kept_ doing it whenever he came around. “I appreciate you and the Avengers going out there and taking care of the distractions. ‘Keeping the world safe’ and all that jazz. Makes it easier for me to concentrate on my work.”

Loki didn’t answer him, choosing to keep his peace rather than rise to the bait Tony was putting out for him. It was always a little test, to see what tone Loki’s visit was going to take. Was it going to be one of those visits where they got to enjoy one another’s company before returning to their respective roles, or was it going to be one of those visits where Loki tried to very carefully – but not very subtly – to abandon his work and join the damned Avengers?

It was important to know which one it was going to be as early in the proceedings as possible, to have some idea of what to expect.

When Loki straightened, he had two drinks in his hand. “It’s good to know that the people of this planet appreciate the effort we put in. No matter what they might _do_ with the safety we afford them.” He held out one of the drinks toward him, offering.

Tony grinned, and walked over to take it. “I don’t know what you could _possibly_ be insinuating there, Rudolf. I’m just a simple businessman, conducting my business as best I can.” As he took the beer, he deliberately trailed his fingers over the backs of Loki’s. “What else could one possibly think I was up to?”

It was a small joy to watch as Loki’s pupils dilated at his touch, at how he’d stepped just a little too close to take the drink from him, but otherwise maintaining his composure. “One might be inclined to think any number of things which you might be up to,” he said, voice steady. “You have resources which can only be dreamed of by the overwhelming majority, as well as possessing that suit of yours—“

_“Those_ suits,” Tony corrected.

“Exactly. _Those_ suits. There’s a reason S.H.I.E.L.D. approached you in joining their team years ago.”

“And there’s a reason I refused.”

“Several, I should think.”

He snorted. “Yeah, well. I would think that just about everyone would have several reasons for _not_ joining up with S.H.I.E.L.D. and their little dream team. Including you, come to that.” He smiled at the mage. “But I guess being given the keys to the clubhouse and some shiny toys is enough for some.”

Loki concentrated on opening his drink, apparently continuing to ignore Tony’s baiting. But Tony knew the mage well enough by now to recognize when he was annoyed. He could see the way his mouth tightened, his movements becoming a little more clipped. The cap to the drink came off with a snap and was tossed away, and Loki took a long drink.

Tony watched him. He ought to be doing more than just watching him, more than just testing to see if he would react to any of Tony’s prodding. He ought to do more than seeing if the mage would respond, if he would give away any sort of hidden motives for being there. It was pointless to keep checking and testing to know if he was up to something sneaky. He _knew_ Loki was up to something sneaky. He was up to something sneaky more or less constantly, it was like breathing. It was one of the things which he appreciated the most about him.

It was also the reason why Tony _ought_ to have done something a long time ago to get rid of the mage. Something quiet, with no way to trace back to him or to Stark Industries.

It was something which he ought to have done the moment he knew that Loki suspected him of being more than just a businessman with too much time and money on his hands. As soon as he had come snooping around, and showed a more than casual interest in his comings and goings, Tony ought to have started planning for the mage’s unfortunate disappearance. He couldn’t afford to have someone like Loki taking an interest in his ‘hobbies.’ Not someone who was as clever as he was. And definitely not someone who had a direct line back to the goddamn _Avengers_.

Loki was a mage and incredibly powerful in his own right, so it wouldn’t have been easy, but Tony was confident he could have managed to make him disappear.

He ought to have killed Loki a long time ago.

The problem was he actually _liked_ the mage. He was a threat to him and all of his work, but damn it if he didn’t find the Asgardian charming as hell. Of course, that was part of Loki’s game, and had been from the start. To make himself as charming and irresistible as he possibly could, to reel Tony in and take him off his guard. Get him to divulge his secrets, to become so enamored and turned around in his own head that he would reveal himself for what he truly was, and give Loki something to take back to S.H.I.E.L.D. And then Tony would have an entire team of super powered do-gooders breaking in his door. Even with everything Tony had at his disposal, he wouldn’t be able to fight off an entire team.

Not yet, anyway. He was working on that.

But if Tony was unfortunate enough to have been charmed by the mage who had come round to try and trap him, then Loki had been unfortunate enough to discover that Tony could be just as charming right back.

They’d fallen for one another’s traps, and were now caught in a situation where neither of them were willing to break the resulting stalemate.

“So,” he said, shoving away the thoughts as well as he could… as well as he _ever_ could. “Any reason in particular you decided to drop in right after a battle, or did you just start missing me too much, all at once?”

Loki smirked, licking his lip. “I could make the suggestion that the battle I was in might, possibly, came as a result of some of your own less-than-careful testing of your latest toys.”

“You might,” Tony agreed. “But would I be inclined to believe you?”

“Given your nature and habit of obstinacy, I doubt it.” He raised a brow at him. “But then, there’s always the chance that you _will_ believe me, and just not let on that you do. At the very least, you’ll look into it anyway. It’s too much of a risk to not confirm one way or another.”

“You’re an annoying bastard, you know that?”

“I assure you, the anomaly is mutual.”

Tony put down the bottle without even opening it – would Loki notice that he hadn’t drunk any of it on purpose? – and reclosed the small distance he’d put between them. “Well, whatever your convoluted reasons for coming here straight from a battle, I appreciate it.” He tugged at the edges of Loki’s slightly battle torn coat. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to figure out all of your complicated clasps… I wonder if I remember how it all works?”

The pupils dilated again, so there was only a sliver of green left. The mage’s smile turned coy, eyes trailing over Tony’s body, taking in the comparative simplicity of what he was wearing. “I don’t doubt your memory for a moment,” his voice dropped several octaves. “But there’s always the possibility that I’ve incorporated some changes you’re unfamiliar with…”

“Always out to give me a challenge, aren’t you?” Tony chuckled, and ran his hands underneath the coat, over Loki’s shoulders, pushing the heavy fabric out of the way.

Loki quickly put down his own bottle – opened, half drained – and allowed the coat to fall away from him. “And you always rise up to meet it.”

“Never any issue with me rising to the occasion with you around, Rudolf.”

Loki huffed, but it quickly turned into a groan when Tony tugged him down so he could claim the man’s mouth. He opened right up for Tony, his lips and tongue tasting of beer and warmth. Without quite realizing he was doing it, he walked Loki back until there was nowhere left for him to go, and Tony had him trapped against the wall.

It had been too long since the last time Loki had decided to ‘visit.’ He’d been missing— _craving_ the mage’s company more than he’d realized. It seemed like Loki felt the same way, if the pressure of his fingers digging into Tony’s hip and buried in his hair were anything to go by. They might be. It might not all be a lie and a ruse to get him off of his guard. When he allowed Tony to kick apart his feet so that Tony could settle between his legs, it might not have all been calculated to keep Tony’s interest and bypass his logic and suspicion.

It _might_ be…

When Tony pulled away, Loki took the opportunity to dip his head down and run his tongue along the line of his throat, nipping occasionally.

“We’d better move this upstairs,” he said, even as he was working at one of Loki’s many, many buckles blindly. “Or you’re going to end up bent over the worktable.”

“And what makes you think that I would have any objection to that?” Loki growled directly into his ear, pulling at Tony’s hip and grinding forward, making Tony hiss. “What makes you think that I’m not attempting that _very_ scenario?”

Tony snarled back, the image in his mind working to speed his erection along to full hardness. He abandoned the buckles in favor of grabbing the mage, one hand sweeping down and taking hold of a leg, pulling it up so that Loki was forced to stand on only one, and Tony had much better access. Loki approved of the shift, digging his teeth into the side of Tony’s neck, sucking a bruise into the flesh.

As much as he might approve of the general direction they were going though…

“Not that I don’t appreciate your enthusiasm,” Tony said, a little out of breath, “but this is the _work_ shop. There are much better toys meant for play upstairs…”

He was rewarded with another groan, tinged with a slightly frustrated whine. It made Tony grin, and then grin even wider when the mage pushed himself away from the wall, taking Tony away with him, pulling him urgently towards the elevator.

—•—

Loki strode through the halls of the Avengers HQ, resisting the inclination to limp slightly. It had been a long time since he had paid call on Anthony, and the man had felt the time keenly.

Not that he was complaining. He had felt the lack of the man’s warmth and attentions as well. But it was a delicate line he was walking in order to see Anthony Stark at all. He had to tread carefully if he wanted to keep even this fool’s theater running.

And he had decided that _yes_ , he really did want to keep it going for as long as possible. If he couldn’t fully have Anthony, then he would take the strange sort of dance they had fallen into instead, where they had pieces of one another, but not the whole.

An unfortunate sort of dance it was, where they both could tell that the end was coming soon, the music winding down, but they both kept going despite it. Because they would rather have those last few seconds than be deprived of them.

“Brother!”

Loki stopped, hastily rearranging his face into something presentable. “Hello, Thor. Director Fury.”

The two men coming up the hallway towards him were exact opposites in terms of their demeanors. Thor was, as always, pleased to see him on his return from Stark’s Tower, using enthusiasm as a well-intentioned if obvious – and unneeded – method of cheering him out of the low spirits which afflicted him after such missions. His brother assumed, and Loki didn’t correct him on this point, that the reason he was always in a mood when he returned was because he disliked being in Anthony’s company. How could Loki fail to be unhappy in Stark’s company, pretending to be his friend and learning his secrets? At least that seemed to be Thor’s reasoning, and he did his best to cheer Loki into a better mood whenever he returned.

He would probably be shocked to learn that Loki’s mood was only ever so low when he had to _leave_ Anthony Stark’s company.

Director Fury was in every way the opposite of Thor. Scowling, brooding, less concerned with what Loki might have been feeling and more so on whatever results might have come from Loki’s mission. If there ever _were_ concerns on his part for Loki’s feelings, then it was concern in the exact way that Loki _didn’t_ want them to exist: Concern that he was beginning to see things Stark’s way, and that he might betray the Avengers.

Loki could sympathize with the man on the point. It was difficult to trust someone whose highest recommendation was that they were masters of deception. The fact that his concerns weren’t all completely baseless was another point in favor of sympathy, if not exactly pity.

“It is good to see you, brother!” Thor enthused at him, slapping him on the shoulder and making a mark Anthony had left there flare to life.

“Yes, it is. We were beginning to think that you’d forgotten where we lived.”

Loki glared at the sarcastic comment from Fury. It wasn’t entirely unjustified, but two days gone was hardly _unusual_ when it came to his missions with the reclusive Stark. It was, in Loki’s estimation, another one of those little tests which Fury liked to give, seeing just how defensive he became over a relatively small prod. Just how much would Loki read into a simple statement, how much did he have to hide that he would see veiled accusations where there were none?

It was just another way in which he reminded Loki of Odin. None of those similarities had done much in way of recommending the association.

“Not forgotten, though I must say that Stark’s accommodations are much to be preferred. His couches are made of something other than hard plastic.”

It was toeing a thin line, that statement, and Fury’s eye narrowed on him. “We’ll have to see about improving that the next time we get a budget upgrade. See if we can’t get something a little more along the same lines of luxury as what the Merchant of Death has in his home.”

Loki smirked, while Thor abruptly looked uncomfortable. “I am sure that my brother is merely worn from his time with Stark…”

“Of _that_ I can guarantee,” Loki drawled. “It’s exhausting work, I’ll have you know, sleeping with the enemy.”

Yes, Thor was definitely looking uncomfortable, now.

Fury must have noticed it as well. With a small roll of his eye and a sigh, he dismissed Thor, who left somewhat reluctantly, but obeyed nevertheless. Once he had left, Fury rounded on Loki.

“I’d appreciate it if you kept some of that wit to yourself and focused on your work. At least when it comes to handing in reports.”

“I’m sure you would.” Loki sighed, arranging himself into a position which would communicate boredom, and edge right along the limit of disrespect which he could get away with. “And I wasn’t aware that the hallway was the proper place to hand in progress reports.”

“It is when you refuse to come to my office once you get back from a mission. When that happens, then the proper place to hand in reports is wherever I can find you.”

“Noted for future report giving.”

Fury didn’t sigh, but it looked as though he would very much like to strangle Loki if he could get away with it. It was impressive how often he wore that expression – and yet another similarity to Odin.

“Just the basics for now, Loki, and you can go about your business. Scrubbing in a shower, I would presume. Have there been any major changes on Stark’s end of things? Any sign that he’s preparing for a major move, or what that move might be?”

Here Loki hesitated. Here was where he was going to have to make a choice. As he always did.

“It looks as though he might be preparing for a large move of some kind. But he still keeps all of his most sensitive information barricaded beyond anything I have managed to crack thus far. Despite what you might think, he doesn’t trust me enough to leave me alone with his computers.”

_And even if he did,_ he thought to himself, _his computers would likely outsmart me as well. And then inform Anthony immediately._

Fury gave a disgusted noise. “Doesn’t trust you enough? What the hell is it that you’re doing over there whenever we send you? For how much time you’ve been spending with the man, I would think that there would be at least _one_ slip up.”

Loki thought back, remembering the beers which he’d pulled out of the fridge. They were Tony’s beers, bottles which he had constant access to, could alter or tamper in any way he wanted _long_ before Loki ever arrived. And yet, when it came down to it, it was _Anthony_ who refused to drink from them. Because Loki had touched them, he’d handled the bottles and he was a mage, it made the drinks untrustworthy. Loki drank and ate freely in front of Anthony, subtle shows of trust in the hopes that it might engender the same… and Loki had yet to see the man eat or drink anything which Loki might have had _any_ access to.

Loki was trustworthy enough to be in his bed, but not enough for…

“He’s not an easy man to get close to,” Loki said, understating to the point of distortion. “I would consider myself lucky to have gotten so far along with him as I have. And you would do well to remember, should you be about to suggest that I press matters further, that his trust, once lost, isn’t going to be something which can be won back. Ever.”

“Whereas _I_ would make the argument that so long as we got what we needed, then the loss of trust is no great thing. If pushing means that the game is won, then why worry that we’ve lost a playing piece?”

Loki glared, holding his tongue. It took some effort.

“ _Has_ Stark made any propositions to you, regarding betraying the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

_Anthony’s breathing slowed down, his limbs spread heavily over Loki, the smell of him, of **both** of them filling the air. The darkness in the room was cut through with the gentle glow of the arc reactor, limning them both in ethereal blue… the light of Anthony Stark’s heart…_

_“I know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is sending you here to gather information on me.”_

_Low words, spoken in the dark, only the light of a broken heart to reveal them. Loki froze, the heaviness in his limbs turning to leaden dread._

_“I also know that you go back every time empty handed. Effectively. You’re not as much theirs as they like to think, Rudolf.”_

_That nickname. The nickname which Anthony had given him on hearing of his history. The name of a little reindeer in a children’s story – one who was mocked and reviled for his differences to his kin… right up until the moment when he was needed, and then lauded for those exact qualities. Anthony had seen the irony in both of their stories, and would never let Loki forget it – as though he could. But it seemed that it was a reminder not only of Loki’s relationship with the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D., but of the potential one he might have with Anthony, who never would see Loki’s traits as a negative, who would only ever see the whole of him, and not just the parts which he could take the most advantage of…_

_“Imagine the fun if you turned their game back on them, mm?”_

_And Loki’s heart **ached** with how simple it would be, to toss aside everything which S.H.I.E.L.D. had given him, the **pity** they had weighted him down with and cast his lot with Anthony. Anthony who wanted him, who treasured him in the moments they had together, who missed him when he was gone…_

_Anthony, who wouldn’t drink from a sealed bottle, just because Loki had **touched** it._

“Nothing which could be considered even slightly plausible, no,” Loki answered. “I don’t believe he’s serious in the least when he mentions it.”

Fury made another slightly disgusted noise, but didn’t seem completely put out. “The next time he does, I want you to make a show of actually considering it. No matter how unserious it might seem, insinuate that you might actually do it – and make it convincing,” he added, possibly in response to Loki’s incredulous look. “This is taking far too long, and we all but _know_ that Stark is getting close to revealing some sort of master plan. Those suits of his are just a beginning, and I would like to have an idea of what the end will look like before it comes pounding on our door.”

“… So you would like me to promise Stark that I will change sides, and work for him?”

“You’ll be promising to act as _his_ double agent, getting secrets from us and feeding them back to him, while you’ll actually be doing the opposite.” Fury gave him a downright malicious smile. “I’m sure it’s the kind of plan which you can appreciate.”

Loki snorted. “Of that you may be certain.” He turned his back on the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., continuing his walk back to his designated rooms. “Though if this plan takes form the way you would like, there will be precious little else you may ever be certain of again.”

Fury didn’t call out to him, which was just as well. It would have been wasted breath.

Such a time as Fury was suggesting _was_ coming, Loki could feel it. When it did come, it would be anyone’s guess what was actually going on, where his loyalties would actually lie, who it was he meant to deceive the most…

Including him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone!
> 
> You can find me on  
> Tumblr: [@ehtarwrites](http://ehtarwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Twitter: [@ehtarwrites](https://twitter.com/ehtarwrites)  
> Discord: @ehtarwrites#4962 
> 
> If anyone wants to come say hi or chat about nerdy things, hmu! ♥


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